Asheville man to go for world record on 44-foot bike

Aug. 31, 2007

Super-sized in a tall top hat, Michael Mooney buzzes the drum circle at Pritchard Park earlier this summer on his 12-foot bike.
“People were screaming and cheering,” he said. “I was a rock star for about 15 seconds.” / SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES

Written by

Paul Clark

PCLARK@CITIZEN-TIMES

ASHEVILLE — Part circus, part serious, Michael Mooney’s daredevil attempt to pilot a 44-foot bicycle at the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival next week is as much about performance anxiety as it is performance art.And, it’s about a Guinness world’s record for the tallest bike to travel 100 meters.

Mooney, who runs a trim carpentry crew by day, builds tall bikes for fun. He’s got a 6-foot mountain bike that he rides down the narrow tracks at Bent Creek. He’s got a 12-foot bike that he recently rode, to cheers and whistles, around the drum circle at Pritchard Park. Next week at the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival, he’s going for the granddaddy record of all in an attempt to more than double the best anyone’s done in the “tall bike” category.

Crazy over you

“With a 6-foot bike, people think I’m nuts. With a 12-foot bike, people think I’m really nuts,” said Mooney, 37. “So when I approached the city and told them I wanted to ride a 44-foot bike, they thought I was really, really nuts.”Tall bikes look daunting, but they’re not, according to Mooney, a former semi-pro downhill mountain bike racer and BMX jumper. A broom is easier to balance in the palm of your hand than a screwdriver because the broom allows you more time to correct, he said.Mooney is building his bike at Asheville Vee Dub, Tom Marshall’s shop in an old chicken coop behind Fairview Elementary School. The job involves a lot of welding, and right now Mooney’s working late into the night. Much, if not most of the work, came at the beginning and involved a lot of engineering and planning. First, Mooney had to set a goal.The tall bike world record holder, as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records, is Terry Goertzen, who rode an 18-foot, 2.5-inch bike 300 meters in Winnipeg, Canada, on June 26, 2004. The record he broke was 16 feet, so Mooney decided that instead of trying for 20 feet, a mark that could be bested quickly, he’d try for a record that will ride for a while. A lot of his inspiration comes from what people have done with unicycles. In 1976, 14-year-old Sem Abrahams set the unicycle record of 45 feet. On Jan. 29, 2004, he rode a unicycle 115 feet tall at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich. One of the things Mooney learned from Abrahams’ feat is to have a crane above to harness into, in case something happens (like the chain falling off or a dog running in front of him). So he made an appointment at Asheville Crane Co. “I thought it was kind of crazy,” owner Teresa Nicholson said, “but he presented me with a packet with all the specs and info. He left nothing out. I talked with my insurance people and my attorney, and they were like, ‘yeah, go for it.’”

Friends in high places

Mooney worked up the packet of information with the help of Dave Keister, who also works at Asheville Vee Dub (upholstery). Keister, who lives in Marshall, is a former emergency medical technician and high-altitude mountaineer who once, during his lunch hour, rescued a caulking crew on the side of a tall building in Raleigh. “Michael approached me because he knew about my experience with rigging systems,” Keister said. “He asked if what he had was feasible. I looked at it, did the math in my head and said we could do that, no problem.”Mooney’s safety plan was (and is) to tether himself and the bike, separately, to the crane, in case the big bike were to tip over. Each will be attached by two ropes, and all the connections would be doubled as well, in case one fails. Additionally, a rope at the bottom center would make sure the wheels didn’t kick out.Mooney took his plan, along with a video of him riding a 12-foot bike at Biltmore Square Mall, to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for permission. The department sent him to the public works department for the crane permit. Public works sent him to the building safety department for review of his safety plans and the fire department agreed to have an ambulance crew on site. The city’s risk manager wanted Mooney to sign a safety waiver and supply a certificate of liability insurance policy from festival organizers. The city departments met, came up with a few adjustments Mooney had to make and, once he made those adjustments, gave him the permits he needed.“He did a great job in preparing his plan for everyone, so there weren’t a whole lot of questions,” said Jon Fillman, events specialist at Parks and Recreation. “I don’t know if I can say we’ve been involved in a world record attempt before.”Asheville Crane was so impressed that it is donating the services of a 22-ton, all-terrain Linkbelt crane, Nicholson said. Mooney also convinced a contractor working on a downtown condo project to drive a lift over the day of the festival to help him get on the bike.

Gold standard

To establish the Guinness record, his ride must be witnessed by two people. Mooney asked Mayor Terry Bellamy and Clint Spiegel, owner of Industry Nine Componentry, on Leicester Highway, which makes bicycle parts. “Guinness just asked for a respected member of the community and an expert in the field,” Spiegel said. “I doubt there’s an expert in 40-foot bikes, but since I own a bike componentry company, I guess I come close.”Mooney will ride the bike in a 70-foot circle. To establish the record, he’s got to ride 100 meters.“I’ll probably ride more than that, because you don’t always get to ride a 44-foot-tall bicycle,” he said. “I’m looking forward to sitting on that bicycle on Lexington and looking down on I-240.”Mooney expects to be nervous, he said. Lots of things in life are scary, but that shouldn’t keep you from doing them, he said. Just make sure you can control what you can — like safety — and practice before you jump in. Climbing a 44-foot bike and piloting it around while hundreds of people watch is good practice for taking on heavier physical and emotional tasks in life, like starting a business and being a good father, Mooney believes.“I honestly think there are a lot of people who are skilled enough to ride a bike that tall,” he said. “Then there’s a smaller group that can not be scared. ...“When I get up there, I’ve got to be fluid. I’ve got to focus on balance and feel the situation. For me, it will be the internal challenge to be fearless, to tap into that superman that everyone has within.”